Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled his latest project last month: a humanoid robot he calls “Optimus.”
At the Tesla AI Day on Sept. 30, the world’s richest man showed off the robot he aims to make widely commercially available. CNET reported Tesla aims to make these Optimus robots and sell them by 2027.
CNET reported Musk wants to the walking robot to sell for about $20,000 within three to five years.
“Our goal is to make a useful humanoid robot as quickly as possible,” Musk said.
The eccentric businessman believes these robots could one day “help millions of people.” But before these robots become widely available to the general public, Musk intends to break them in at Tesla’s various car factories.
The version of Optimus that Musk revealed at the Tesla AI Day appeared to be a working prototype with exposed wiring. The company has released photos of what the final product will look like when its jumble of wiring will be enclosed behind a sleek exterior casing. CNET reported the prototype seen at this year’s second-ever annual Tesla AI Day was put together in just eight months.
Optimus shuffled forward on stage, waved to the audience in the crowd and offered up a few stiff dance moves.
Musk showcased the design he eventually wants for his Tesla Bots, a 5’8″ robot that weighs about 125 pounds, can deadlift 150 pounds and looks more like a human in a head-to-toe spandex suit and less like the unfinished version of C-3P0 from the “Star Wars” prequels.
“The robot can do a lot more than what we showed you. We just didn’t want it to fall on its face,” Musk said during the AI Day event.
Tech reporter Eva Fox shared a pair of photos showing Optimus carrying out some simple office tasks for Tesla employees, including watering the house plants and carrying a package to an employee’s workspace.
“The number of situations where Optimus is useful will grow exponentially. Really really fast,” Musk said.
Humanoid robots wouldn’t be entirely out of place as Musk’s next big project. Musk has spent years on space-travel projects and talks frequently about colonizing Mars. Musk has also co-founded Nueralink, a technology company aiming to make implantable chips that would allow the human brain to control machines.
